Chapter 1

In the events of the last few years, I've been a student of the Galactic Federation, a war criminal of the Phandic Empire, and I've been in this crazy space adventure with my friend Tamret. Things have been pretty hectic lately, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to think it was all worth it. I saved my mom's life, helped the Confederation in their efforts against the Phands, broke my dad out of prison twice, fought a kaiju, and Tamret even became my girlfriend. Insane as it all was, if I had to choose, I don't think I would change a thing. Everything that has led to now was a crazy, exciting, and wonderful adventure. And it wasn't better just for me. My planet was freed from the Phands, the Confederation was liberated from their evil goat turtle leader Junup, the technology me and my friends discovered made us nearly unstoppable, we became celebrities, and Earth became a home to all. Not just to humans, but all kinds of aliens. It was almost too much to take in at once, but at the same time, it felt just right. We had no reason to fight. And if one ever did come up, we would be ready.

But, for now, I could relax. And that's exactly what I was gonna do.

Our usual weekend hangout spot was in a ship granted to us by the Confederation. Small, only a couple of weapons, and very fast. Plus it had a lounge. Nice and roomy, and it had comfy furniture. And to top it all off, it could make food. Not Earth food, but hey, I'll eat it.

Me and Tamret were currently locked in a battle game at one of the tables. The goal was to take down as many of each other's defense ships as possible in order to easily target the main flagship. We've been playing this for the past three years, and it's never gotten boring. Each time we played, the difficulty level got higher. There were always new challenges. New strategies to learn. Ways to trick each other in order to gain the upper hand. And we were masters. Tacticious leaders in a never-ending war through the cosmos.

I smirked as I sent a squadron of small boarding shuttles to her platoon, doing my best to keep it to one side of my face so she couldn't see. I heard a gasp next to me as a few ships of hers blew up. "How did you..?" she trailed off. I allowed the smirk to grow all the way, and she gave me a look. "I have my ways," I bragged teasingly. I got a punch to the arm as a result. And it hurt.

The rest of the game went by smoothly. If smoothly meant that explosions were going off every which way, PPB rounds were being thrown in different directions, and playful banter was said to try and tick each other off. In the end, Tamret had achieved victory. My ship had been captured, and the familiar "Game over" screen appeared.

I smiled and looked at Tamret, who had her arms crossed with a cheesy smirk. "Not so sneaky now, are you?" she teased. I rolled my eyes in an attempt to seem cheesed. "You cheater!" I pretended to whine. She gasped dramatically. "How dare you!" I got another punch on the arm, and I broke into a short laugh. "Good game?" I asked after calming down, and she locked her paw with my hand. "Good game," she said back before pulling me closer for a quick peck on the lips to compensate. I smiled even more.

I heard an exaggerated groan close by, and I turned to see the joking look on Nayana's face. "Would you two get a room?" she said with her arms crossed, wrapping her fingers on her bicep. I rolled my eyes, and Tamret put her arm around me. "If you don't like it, you can just go to the other room." Nayana pursed her lips in a teasing smirk. "What if I don't wanna?" Tamret gave her the bird, something she picked up since she started living with me, and rested against me in a cuddle. Nayana giggled a little and went back to...whatever she was doing, which I assumed was working on a new program in her laptop. With a calm breath, I put my arm around Tamret, and we rested.

A lot of time passed before my eyelids began to feel heavy, and I had the sudden urge to yawn. Tamret snuggled into a different position, and she yawned only a second before I did. "Tired too, huh?" I said through the yawn. She nodded and rested her head on my shoulder. "Because you're really comfortable," she joked as her eyes fell closed. I smiled a little as I rested my cheek on her fur, letting drowsiness consume me. My eyes slowly closed, and I was on the verge of falling asleep when a loud noise made me jump, and my eyes shot open.

The room was enveloped by a bright blue crackling light, and my whole body tensed as it made contact with us. I felt a strong sensation for only a split second, and the lights suddenly went off. Everyone was on their feet in that moment, and we were scared out of our wits. Steve came rushing out of the room. "What in the blazes was that?!" he cried, his pupils sharp slits and his fists held up. I looked at Tamret, who was currently clinging to my arm, her tail stiff and her fur on end. As I looked around, I realized that everyone's hair was in a straight mess, including mine. Had I not just nearly suffered a heart attack, I would've laughed.

Charles went to the breaker box and tried to turn the lights back on. They came back, and I ran my hand through my hair to set it back down. "Anybody have an idea on what that was?" Everyone gave a shrug, and I sighed. "I'll go see my parents about it." Tamret took my hand, and we both went out of the ship to the house. "Mom? Dad?" I went inside and looked around. All the lights were off, and I felt a faint dread.

My mom came out, and she looked frazzled. "Your guys' power out, too?" she asked. I nodded a little. "Only for a little bit. What about you guys?" Mom shrugged. "Your dad's working on the fuse box right now, but I don't think we're getting power for a good while." I raised an eyebrow. "Did you see what caused it?" She nodded. "Big blue light of energy?" I nodded back and looked at Tamret. She was trying to figure out the situation. "Anything?" I asked. She locked eyes with me. "Sounds like another alien attack." I raised my eyebrow. "What kind?" She thought another moment before looking at me again. "One that can cause E.M.P's." Mom tilted her head. "Are you saying a new E.M.P machine?" Tamret nodded. Not again, I thought to myself.

"So how are we gonna stop this thing?" Mom asked.

"Not sure yet," I answered. We heard someone open the door. "Tamret! Zeke! You two might wanna see this!" Steve's voice said rather hastily. The two of us rushed out the door and followed him to the shuttle. We saw the others huddled around the TV as we entered, and what was on made me gasp.

"Breaking news!" a news anchor said as a replay of the wave began to play beside him. "A massive wave of energy has caused a power outage across the entire country. Families and businesses are forced to rely on backup generators, or simply wait for it to come back on. This is the second major blackout to occur in recent years, but this one is far more powerful. No one knows what caused this, but speculations believe it to be an unknown alien, who may have E.M.P capabilities, so be wary if you plan on going out. It may be dangerous." I looked at Mi Sun, Charlies, Alice, and Nayana had worried gleams in their eyes. "What if this is Phandic technology?" Mi Sun whispered. "What if they got the E.M.P back?" Nayana looked at her. "I don't think so…" Charles shook his head. "We'll have to dig deeper into this," he concluded. I looked at Steve and Tamret, who both gave me an unsure look. I felt her squeeze my hand a little, and I squeezed back.

Just when I thought we were done fighting aliens.